A movement to encourage churches to make room for nonstop prayer has spread to 63 nations in the last seven years and is especially multiplying in the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa. “We don’t have a fixed number of prayer rooms because they can take off so quickly,” said Pete Greig, 37, who founded the 24/7 prayer movement in 1999 in Chichester, England. Named for its nonstop concert of prayer, 24/7 has meeting places as diverse as a bus in the slums of Delhi, India,and a brewery in Missouri. Volunteers pray, usually alone, in one-hour shifts, round the clock, seven days a week for global issues and requests they receive from their international Web site or from their local communities. Visitors are free to drop in, pray and talk. 24/7 also has planted itself in places where there is a crisis, such as Lebanon during the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, and in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Teams also live long-term in needy communities in Mexico, where intercessors can be found ministering among pimps and prostitutes. “In a squatter’s camp in Soweto, South Africa, we’ve seen 64 prayer tents spring up in just two years,” Greig said. “The local man who spearheads them said 80 percent of new converts in the camp are maintaining their salvation, and the local police chief says crime has dropped by 20 percent.” Greig said the movement is being fueled by young people who are passionate about prayer, justice and missions. —Josie Newman

A Kansas woman who had been unable to speak for nearly three years due to what was believed to be Lou Gehrig’s disease unexpectedly began speaking on Halloween, the Associated Press (AP) reported. A patient at Medicalodge North Post-Acute Care Center in Arkansas City, De Glaze spoke first to her husband, Joe. “She said, ‘Thank you,’” he told the AP. “It just happened suddenly, and then, wham, she took off [talking]. Then she started complaining.” Joe said his wife’s doctors said they had never seen a Lou Gehrig’s patient regain his or her voice after losing it. “Lou Gehrig's disease is a continually deteriorating disease that continues until a person dies,” said Dr. David Schmeidler, De's physician. “It's a neurological disease, and they gradually go down, lose control of their muscles and waste away.” Schmeidler, however, said De had not been formally diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. A nurse for 30 years before she became ill, De considers her recovery an answer to prayer. She told the AP that women from her church, First Assembly of God, prayed for her every Tuesday. Last year, another patient who suffered critical internal and head injuries after a 2002 car accident spoke her first words in three years. “It's just something in the water,” Administrator Erik Hatten told the AP. “It's been pretty amazing.”

Twelve years ago the genocide in Rwanda led to the deaths of more than 1 million Hutus and Tutsis in a three-month period. Today the African nation is still reeling from the devastation, and poverty is abundant. But an Anglican priest is working to help his homeland find healing through his REACH-Rwanda ministry¸ an acronym for Reconciliation, Evangelism and Christian Healing. Since 1997 Philbert Kalisa, who lost many of his family members in the genocide, has been leading a three-day seminar that teaches peace building, trauma healing and community development. After nine years of ministry, REACH has seen more than 1,300 Rwandans and 250 leaders complete the program and dozens of families restored. “Reconciliation requires that we are committed to setting all people free spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, socially and physically,” Kalisa said. Agnes Mukagasana, 44, can attest to that freedom. Her husband and six children were killed in the genocide. But after attending the REACH seminars she says she can finally forgive. “I forgive everyone who killed my family,” she said. “I forgive those who raped me and my daughter. I even forgive myself, and may God forgive me because I now realize that living with hate and anger damages me more and I have to forgive in order to be forgiven too.” She now visits prisons where those convicted of crimes during the genocide are held, telling the inmates she forgives them and bringing them food.-Felicia Mann

More than 20,000 college students are expected to gather in Atlanta Jan. 1-4 for Passion 07. More than 17,000 students from 24 countries have already registered for the four-day event. The conference will feature worship leaders such as Chris Tomlin and David Crowder, as well as, teachings and prayer times. “Thousands of students will merge from across the nation and around the world to sink their teeth into the confession of Isaiah 26:8,” said Louie Giglio, who founded the Passion conferences in 1995. “First wrapping our hearts around what it means to be satisfied in Christ, we want to echo the fame of the Satisfier in everything we do. Making our lives count for what matters most is a worthy goal but a costly proposition, one that must be thoroughly absorbed and embraced if our lives are going to be shaped for His renown.” Registration for the 2007 event is growing faster than for the 2006 conference, which convened 18,000 college students from all 50 states, 1,100 campuses and 20 countries.

Roughly 500 Muslims have been baptized through the ministry of a 15-member Norway congregation known as The Wellspring Church. Many of the converts to Christianity have sought refuge in Norway from violence in Middle Eastern nations such as Afghanistan. Based in Aal, located about four hours from the capital, Oslo,Wellspring employs full-time Iranian evangelist Daniel Marandis, who said many Muslims are hurting and desire prayer from Christians. “We try to reach the refugees when they first arrive in the capital, before they are scattered all over the country,” said Marandis, who is based in Oslo. “We invite them to our Disco Church, [where visitors can experience] cultural events with lots of ethnic foods, dancing to Middle East pop and prayer,” he said. Wellspring pastor Helge Svanaasen said it is common for the Muslims who visit his church to encounter the Holy Spirit, a key reason that many of them come to salvation. Marandis added that many Muslims have fallen under the power of the Holy Spirit and received revelation while visiting the church. “They realized that the Holy Spirit does not go together with Islam,” he said. “Helge is not baptizing them into his church. People are not interested in changing religions. They are interested in God.”

A Europe-based ministry to Iran says an “unprecedented” revival is occurring in the predominantly Muslim nation. “Every month literally hundreds (if not thousands) are meeting Christ as their Saviour and King,” said a spokesman from the ministry, whose name was withheld because of security concerns. “Many house churches are being established, tens of thousands of Bibles, New Testaments, DVDs and Christian resources are being distributed. …. House churches are established and Christian presence noted in 29 cities in Iran! This is truly a revival; the heart of the nation is turning toward Jesus Christ.” The revival is being attributed to the number of Iranians who are watching Christian TV or connecting to Christian Internet sites. Ministry leaders say they now need leaders to disciple the masses of people coming to Christ in Iran.

Harald Bredesen, known by many as “Mr. Charisma,” died Dec. 29 in an Escondido, Calif., hospital following complications from a fall at his home on Dec. 26. He was 88. An ordained Lutheran minister, Bredesen was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1946 at a Pentecostal camp meeting. He later led many prominent figures into a charismatic experience, including entertainer Pat Boone, author John Sherrill and Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) founder Pat Robertson. “He served the Lord in a global ministry, leading many into the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and set an example for us all in his boldness and perpetual joy,” Robertson said. “He was a dear friend and beloved brother in Christ.” Also known as a minister to world leaders, Bredesen founded the Prince of Peace Prize, which was given to Billy Graham, Mother Teresa and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who said the award was more important than his Nobel Peace Prize. Bredesen is also credited with coining the term “charismatic renewal” and was involved in the founding of CBN, Trinity Broadcasting Network and 100 Huntley Street in Canada. He is survived by his wife, Genevieve; his four children and five grandchildren.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that there may be a neurological parallel between what worshipers believe about the speaking-in-tongues experience and what actually transpires in the brain, The New York Times reported. Scientists took brain images from five healthy, active, churchgoing women as they were speaking in tongues and as they were singing. Comparing the two images, the researchers discovered that the women’s frontal lobes—the willful, thinking part of the brain—were quiet, as were the language centers, indicating something else was in control, the Times reported. “The amazing thing was how the images supported people’s interpretation of what was happening,” said Dr. Andrew B. Newberg, the lead researcher and director of the university’s Center for Spirituality and the Mind. “The way they describe it, and what they believe, is that God is talking through them.” Scans of people practicing meditation differed sharply. Newberg found that during meditation the frontal lobe was more active. The findings were published in the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

Christians are expected to gather at two New Jersey churches to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1907 Pyongyang Great Revival, which helped spread Christianity throughout Korea. Sponsored by PSALT, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes prayer and advocacy for North Korea, the two-day prayer and worship conference is to be held Jan. 12-13 at the Korean Community Church of New Jersey in Englewood and the Chodae Community Church in Norwood. The centennial celebration is to include prayer for renewed revival in the closed, communist nation and will feature international speakers, including missionaries to Korea and the children of missionaries who ministered during the 1907 revival. Leaders of PSALT–which stands for Prayer, Service, Action, Love, Truth for North Korea–say the Pyongyang revival surpassed similar moves of God that occurred in Wales and India as it swept across Korea within six months leaving no area untouched. As a result of the outpouring, some began referring to Pyongyang as the Jerusalem of the East. Centennial organizers said services will be presented in Korean and English.

The Middle East is notorious for being hostile to the gospel. But evangelist Elias Malki says several people accepted Christ and many were healed during a two-night crusade he led in Jerusalem in late November. “I have never experienced such a meeting,” said Malki, who has visited Jerusalem more than 50 times. “The people were so hungry for God. I just put my hand on them and they were getting healed. Their faith was so strong. To God be all the glory.” On both nights 300 people packed into a church that seats 150. One woman who attended the first night said she was healed of rheumatoid arthritis in both of her legs and her right arm. She said she could lift her arms and legs with no pain. Another woman said she was healed of diabetes on the last night of the crusade. “This is history in the making,” Malki said. “In the old walls of Jerusalem, this is the beginning of something that is going to happen here.” Malki has helped pioneer Christian television in the Middle East. His Good News talk-and-prayer program, which is broadcast entirely in Arabic, celebrates its 10-year anniversary on satellite this year.